Northern Ireland's cash-strapped health service is paying up to £120 an hour for agency nurses as it struggles to plug chronic staff shortages, it can be revealed. Hospitals and clinics are becoming increasingly reliant on agency nurses due to difficulties in filling staff posts. The Press Association has learned that…

Healthcare Workers who provide excellent patient care across the UK have been announced as finalists and regional winners for the Skills for Health’s Our Health Heroes Awards 2017, sponsored by Health Education England. The Our Health Heroes Awards, established in 2016 aim to celebrate the unsung healthcare heroes from across…

The Public Health Agency (PHA) has announced it has been successful in securing a significant grant for ‘Project RETAIN’ which will improve nurse retention and recruitment in care of older people’s settings in Northern Ireland. The funding grant from the prestigious Burdett Trust for Nursing will support a regional initiative…

Families are "missing out" on specialist end-of-life care as two in five people are unaware that most hospice services are provided for free, a charity has said. Only 57% of Britons are aware that services provided by hospices are generally free for those receiving them, a new poll by Hospice…

At least 1.8 million people aged 65 and over could have an urgent dental condition, according to a new report. Dentists have raised concerns about the impact conditions such as dental pain, oral sepsis - an infection that can lead to blood poisoning - and extensive tooth decay are having…

This survey of organisations providing specialist palliative care services to care homes highlights the good work they do and identifies the key challenges they face. The report, commissioned by Public Health England, undertaken by the Marie Curie Research Centre at Cardiff University, with input from the National Council for Palliative…

A hospice was among those defrauded by a £2.5 million banking scam in the Scottish Highlands. The Highland Hospice lost a six-figure sum when the phone-based scam, known as vishing, hit companies between July 19 and 30. Some of the money has been recovered and work is continuing with banks…

Scotland is in the top 10 countries in Europe for levels of palliative care, although a new study has said there remains "room for improvement". For the first time, academics at Glasgow University compared the level of end of life care provided in Scotland with that in the rest of…